Black Lotus
by lostlikeme
Summary: Avatar Korra sneaks into a strip club and falls in love with the infamous Black Lotus.


Bolin and Wu beg them both to go, but Mako doesn't want any part in what he calls "an excessive waste of the Avatar's time and resources." He concedes only under the stipulation that Korra agrees to go, and she's so worried about not looking like stick-in-the-mud-Mako that she says yes. How is she going to get out of this one? It's too late to backtrack, but it never hurts to try.

"C'mon, what will people think if they find the Avatar in a peep show?"

Bolin's smile swallows his whole face. He raises his eyebrows suggestively, not once, but twice, and hands Korra an Earth Kingdom uniform. Wu presses a pair of thick rimmed glasses onto his face. It does little to hide his true identity.

"We go in disguise," Wu announces. "Think of it as an undercover investigation."

Mako frowns, looking interested. "What are we investigating?"

Bolin fires two pistols with his fingers. "Dat ass."

They leave in the late evening, after Korra lets her hair down and masks her face with a dark hood. The bouncer watches them with narrowed eyes as they take a table in front of the dinky stage. Everything looks cheap, like a little too much weight on one of the poles will send it toppling over.

Bolin knocks Mako into her in his eagerness. "Do you smell dumplings?"

The joint may be skeezy but it still serves food, which is almost enough to offset the humiliation of being here in the first place. Wu orders a round of drinks for the whole table just before the first dancer appears. A pixie thin water bender swings her hips in triple eights while Bolin stares, hypnotized. The server drops their plates with a clatter when the band starts up.

"Remember," says the waitress, voice raspy. "No touching."

Korra is still licking wasabi sauce from her fingers when a tall bombshell with eyes like a serrated knife introduces herself on stage as the Black Lotus. Her boots ride halfway up her calves before the leather gives way to the pale curve of her thighs. The snug underwear below her navel is held together with a string and her breasts look fit to burst behind the matching black fabric of her brassiere. Korra has only seen clothes like that in the Red Light district of Ba-Sing-Se.

The first lift is a powerful display of strength and femininity. Her stomach flexes when she wraps her hands around the pole. Korra tries to swallow the drool in her mouth when she does a turn, but ends up sputtering at the tightly wound flesh of the dancer's ass. Someone from the audience catcalls and Korra can barely resist the urge to throw fire.

"Seriously," urges Mako. His eyes are grave but his brow is sweaty. "Hold it together."

She bends in half at the waist, heels dangerously close to the edge of the platform. From here Korra can tell how perfectly she's applied her mascara. "Like what you see?" The words sound glossy.

Korra swallows. "Love it."

When the song ends and her routine is over, she steps off the stage with her head held high. Just as Korra is preparing to get a long look at her from behind, she saddles up next to her. Someone is smoking at the table behind them, but Korra hardly notices.

"New here?" she asks. Korra gapes. The dancer hauls one leg over Korra's waist, presenting her ass. "I feel like I've seen you around before."

Korra sucks her lips inside her mouth, nostrils flaring. "No way!" She tightens her fists around the arms of the chair. "You probably say that to everyone." She sucks in three deep breaths. "Maybe I just have a familiar face."

Black Lotus drops her weight and swivels her hips in a slow, stretched out movement. Korra can feel her pants zipper pressing along the seam of her underwear. The woman in her lap glances back at Korra over her shoulder, eyes twinkling.

Her smile is slick as snake oil. "Or maybe I saved it just for you."

Korra can't stop thinking about how she'd feel beneath her hands, the pull of her hips and the sheen of sweat on her skin. She twists around in her lap and they face each other, eye contact more intimate than touch.

"Can I ask why you do this?" Korra blurts. "You seem smart. You already know you're beautiful."

"The hours are good," grind, "the pay is great," twerk, "and engineering school doesn't pay for itself."

She flips her long hair behind her shoulders while Korra tries to steady her heart. "Can I ask why you do this?" She leans down low and whispers into Korra's ear. "Avatar."

The hamster wheel in Korra's head slows to a stop. Mako's face resembles an imploded landmine; Bolin is completely blissed out. What happened to Wu? She slips off Korra's lap before security can make it across the floor to complain. Black Lotus drags her nail across Korra's wrist before pulling away.

"How did you know?"

She presses a finger to Korra's lips and smiles. Her heels click against the floor as she walks away. "Why don't you come backstage and find out?"


End file.
